Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou Review

 Overall Rating 6.5 out of 10 - Overall good with some flaws.

I mostly recommend watching.

Looney Toons meet anime. Aside from how they endanger and take advantage of male MC, it is rather enjoyable show. 

The girls are cute kind of stupid. Some of them have tragic backstory that can make you sympathize with them. Their design is good too. I like that they all obsess with male MC. 

Suu and Cyclops-chan are the best personality vise. Suu is very quiet, nice, cozy and surprisingly helpful. Cyclops-chan is shy and insecure which is very adorable. 

I also like Papi's naivete and bubblyness, Rachera's hairstyle and black clothes and Cerea's loyalty and devotion. Merell's self-sacrificing calmness. Miia is more of a trouble, but even she is cute at times.

Overall, it is not too bad, somewhat refreshing compared to cold and hard women some other shows like to have, like Alexia and Iris in Eminence in Shadow. I cannot fathom who could possibly like Alexia.

Code Geass and Eminence in Shadow

What is surprising is that no one compares Code Geass to Eminence in Shadow. It would be the closest thing out there.

Surely Eminence in Shadow has much less grounded plot and lots of plot holes as well as too many unappealing women that get too much screen time. Lord Shadow just kills everyone with one hit while Lelouch had to beat his opponents without being OP. There are no tactics to speak of or much intrigue. Cid does not take it too seriously and has questionable taste in women. Diabolos-chan (Aurora) is a questionable replacement for CC.

However, Lord Shadow is closest thing to Zero. Shadow Garden is closest thing to Black Knights. This black and gold style. Epic awesomeness. Double personalities where he pretends to be ordinary guy so that no one suspects him to be Lord Shadow. Diabolos-chan still somewhat reminds me of CC.

Eminence in Shadow is much better counterpart to Code Geass than Death Note or AoT.

I dropped AoT after 5th episode, so I am not even sure how it is similar to Code Geass.

Aside from that Guilty Crown was the cheap rip off of the Code Geass. They somehow got everything wrong without getting even a single thing right. Sometimes you can get at least something right by pure off chance, but they failed in every possible way.

Assassin's Creed

 

Assassin's Creed came out much later compared to Legacy of Kain, Max Payne or Warcraft III. It was not my first game that makes you question things and raises complicated questions as who is really are the bad guys or can you trust your own leaders.

Back in the days I played both first and second parts as well as Brotherhood and Revelations. I planned to play the third part but was skeptical it did turn out well.

However, Assassin's Creed was possibly the most comprehensive of them all. It was not telling you to question things in subtle way like Legacy of Kain would. I basically revolved around the very idea that nothing is what it seems. It showed you two sides of the coin and let you choose for yourself.

The game lets you see people at their base primitive selves with their flaws, fears, insecurities, blatant stupidity and subtle cunning wisdom. 

At times you were dealing with pretty much straight face hypocrites who fully understand that what they do is wrong but do it anyway. People like Majd ad Din pretend that it is their victims who are at fault. 

Other times you face people who commit atrocities, but actually believe they are doing a good thing.

However, at the same time game tries to weave a complex 'mother of all conspiracy theories' plot where every event in history was actually a proxy war between Assassins and Templars. Story that makes you wonder if some of it indeed has some connection to reality. Aside from things such as Masyaf was indeed a fortress of the Assassins during the Crusades times, and they assassinated both Christians and Muslims. Castle there looks just like in game and you can visit the place.

The Pieces of Eden, produced by the advanced civilization of the past have near supernatural powers in the eyes of the ordinary person of the times. Because of that Pieces of Eden can be used by cunning and ambitious people to rule over other as near gods. Templars want to use Pieces of Eden to control the entire humanity and lead it into their idea of utopia, that is more of an Orwellian dystopia in the eyes of the freedom loving people. Assassins fight to prevent them from doing it.

Gameplay wise games offered not only an open world in a beautifully recreated historical setting with many landmarks present in the game, but also many innovative ways of traversing it. Before this game you could only walk the surfaces, jump over obstacles or climb ladders. Prince of Persia games also allowed you to run on walls briefly. 

In Assassin's Creed however you could finally climb pretty much any building. Walls no longer limited where you could go, but merely offered a different way forward. Wandering around and sightseeing is very enjoyable part of the game experience.

They took it even further in the second game, by implementing 4 vastly different cities. Traversing Venice with its canals and gondolas that you could actually ride was different from Florence or Forli. Not to mention you can easily tell in which city you were based solely on how buildings looked like.

In the second game they also let you fly Leonardo da Vinci's flying machine and pilot his tank. You can also meet Niccolo Machiavelli, Lorenzo Medici and Rodrigo Borgia.

Story alone I would say the first game was a lot more focused on the core idea, while the second was much longer and somewhat more eventful and entertaining but was somewhat baser. It also had some feminist influence that first game lacked.

Overall, I would say Assassin's Creed was the game that influenced Millennial generation in many subtle ways. I encouraged people to question what elders and authority figures tell them and think for themselves. 

On Girls of Fate Series

Rin looks down on Shiro and acting like he is inferior to her in every way. Justified or not it just does not work in a relationship. 

She thinks Rin >>>>>> Shiro

Saber somewhat respects Shiro authority and expects him to earn her respect as a person. 

She thinks Shiro <>=~ Saber

Sakura in contrast respects and admires Shiro more than anyone else. 

She thinks Shiro >>>>>>> Sakura.

You should always go with the girl that thinks of you like Sakura thinks of Shiro.

Otherwise, she will not respect you and your authority, and your life will be hell. She will constantly bitch that you do not lift enough of something so stupid. She will have no issue cheating on you and will not care that much if you die or not. As in her eyes you are just some lowly half-ass scrub.

In contrast Sakura might even kill herself if she cannot be with you anymore. She will do anything for you to win your approval and keep the relationship.

Besides Sakura is the only one with the proven ability and habit of cooking food. She will never have issues with making you a sandwich or anything else you desire. She will be happy to.

It is very important that girl understands her subordinate to the man place in a relationship. Without it you cannot have good relationship.

Warcraft III Unit Quotes

When you order your units to do various actions in Warcraft they respond in various ways. There are other phrases they say in different circumstances, including when you click on them too much.

They do help the immersion in the game world.

I found a collection of unit phrases here.

Unfortunately, not all units are present in this selection.

Max Payne

Just like I started playing Legacy of Kain from the last game of the series, I started Max Payne with the second part. I eventually found and played its predecessor as well. After the second part, Remedy went on developing Alan Wake instead. Thus, Alan Wake is sort of a spiritual successor of Max Payne 1 and 2.

Later Max Payne got the 3rd part. Max Payne 3 was made by a GTA developers and turned out more like GTA without cars than a true sequel. They got the action right, but they could not get the psychology at all.

I did not play Alan Wake; wilderness setting, or plain horror is not that appealing to me. I do enjoy however many less straightforward shows with horror elements, such as Jigoku Shoujo for example.

Most people like the first game more than the second. It pioneered the Matrix style slo-mo action in shooters. Because of that many played it. First Max Payne also had more accessible plot of taking revenge for the family.

That was only on the surface, however. Even first Max Payne was very phycological and introspective game and the second game was even more psychological than the first. By the time Remedy released the second part, there were many other shooters that copied slo-mo from Max Payne and the sequel underperformed commercially. However, it has its dedicated fan base, that is because it has story like no other. I personally think that second Max Payne actually perfected the formula, there are many games with mafia, but there are few with psychological introspection.

Unlike more mafia and drugs related first game, second game had this much more toned down. Max finished his revenge against the Valcyr drug, that 'killed his wife and daughter' and tried to move on with his life. 

"They all were dead; I was still alive."

The second part takes the story of revenge and turns it into a reflection on itself. After killing all those, who were responsible for killing everyone Max cared for, Max had an existential crisis of sorts. He had no one to kill or to love and struggled to find new place in the world.

Second game particularly perfected this lonely Max image. Here he still fought gangsters and narrated what his saw with a cynical, but analytical commentary. This commentary helped to flesh out the world and characters a lot better than what many other games could. 

However, in second game a lot of this narration was now about Max own life and experiences. He reflected on his past, present, speculated over various things, wondered if things could have turned out differently and so on. 

Game even created surreal experiences, so called dreams or nightmares of Max Payne, that you play through when Max sleeps in in game world. They showcase Max's struggles with reality and his life in metaphoric kind of way. I too like metaphors and allegory and often describe my experiences in the same way.

Max is a lonely character, but he is not the same kind of lonely as Naruto or even Garra. Naruto wanted everyone to acknowledge him and did things to win peers approval. Garra just hated everyone and killed to dull his emotional pain.

Max is neither of these, He wants no approval from anyone. By second game he does not particularly hate anyone anymore. 

In the first game he passionately hated and killed everyone connected with Valcyr drug and even took on respected Aesir corporation, because they were involved in manufacturing of the drug.

In the second he partly tries to find new meaning in life, partly just responds to events that happen around him. Not the kind of meaning such as religion, but rather something he actually can relate to enough to like.

In the end Max grows attached to Mona enough to kill a fellow officer Winterson to save Mona from prison. In her part Mona did put a lot of effort into saving Max's life from gangsters and all sorts of trouble. Even my rational logic can find a girlfriend like that desirable.

Max is a Police officer and Mona is a wanted criminal for all the assassinations she did working for Vlad. However, their personal ties to each other were stronger than to duty. Max betrayed the police and Mona betrayed her employer Vlad.

Later Max gets nearly killed by Vlad, for killing Winterson as two of them also had a secret romance that went against their duty.

Max kills Vlad in the end. Mona dies in normal ending, concluding it as a sad and tragic story. Max somewhat moves on from the whole thing, but it is not clear to what sort of future. He sees his dead wife in his dream but feels that everything is alright.

However, there is a secret ending where Mona survives, and police finds them holding each other.

I can relate to a love story like that. I am not sure what happened to TrueHellDei, I do not think it is police related in any way. However, it is because of psychological compatibility that I was able to enjoy her company so. Because of that I miss her still. 

More on How Libra Works

Libra is social chameleon indeed. It is often smarter to not show your cards and opinions to people around. Because of that Libra has the most misconception about them.

However they share an element with Gemini and Aquarius. They are more level headed compare to Gem and can think couple of steps ahead. On the other hand they are not as stubborn and inflexible as Aquarius.

Then they also Cardinal disposition with Cancer, Capricorn and Aries. Cardinal are flexible, but focused on their goals as they understand them. They are not as stubborn as fixed signs but also do not just go with the flow like mutable ones.

Also the sign directly opposite is Aries. Libra is Aries that thinks first and does later. Aries does first and thinks only if something goes wrong.

Also Air as an element represents civilization. All air signs are represented by people or inanimate objects. Libra also has a representation of a guy holding scales, similar to how Aquarius is a guy holding a water jar.

In my case I have lots of placements in water signs. Moon in Cancer and Mercury Venus and Pluto in Scorpio. That allows me to understand the emotional side of things

I have Sun and Mars in Libra though.